Chinese Stray Dog Follows Cyclists on 1700km Race (Video)

A stray dog nicknamed Xiao Sa has been following a team of cyclists for 24 days along a 1700km race across China from Sichuan province to Tibet.

Xiao Sa joined the cyclists after one of them, Zhang Heng, gave her some food. “She was lying, tired, on the street,” Heng told China Daily. “So we fed her, and then she followed our team.”

Once Zhang and his friends realized the dog wouldn’t quit, they embraced her as a race mascot. Heng said Xiao Sa ran the whole course, covering up to 60km a day, except when he’d carry her downhill to avoid high-speed danger. He also started a Weibo blog about Xiaosa’s adventures, which had attracted around 40,000 fans by the end of the race.

Calling the dog a ‘buddy and a friend’, Heng said that he would like to adopt the dog and take her home. “I would like to take the dog home and take care of her. She has been a stray on the road for a long time. She needs a home,” Heng said.